WHITE HOUSE TO TAP SEATTLE IN DRUG WAR

City Is One Of 25 Enlisted For Drive To Combat Problem

WASHINGTON -- Calling the Seattle metropolitan area and 24 other major
cities places of "missed chances and despair" in the war on drugs, the
White House's senior anti-drug official outlined a program yesterday in
which cities and the federal government would work more closely to stem the
tide of illegal narcotics.

John Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy, said he and his
aides would travel to each of the 25 cities to find out what works, what
doesn't and methods for improving collaboration between all levels of law
enforcement.

"We believe this initiative will not only help each individual city focus
its efforts, but the successful programs and techniques we learn in one
city can be shared with other cities also struggling with this problem," he
said.

While he portrayed the program as a major benefit to cities, it's important
as well to President Bush if he is to achieve his campaign vow of reducing
drug use by 10 percent in the next two years and by 25 percent in five years.

"We want to help people see what the problem is, how the problem is
improving, what's making a difference and what challenges are ahead,"
Walters said.

"This is not a one-time visit. We intend for this to be a sustained
partnership with cities. ... It's not constructive for us to simply point
fingers, although we need to identify the problems. We need to fix the
problems."

Walters emphasized that the program offers no additional federal money to
cash-starved cities but is intended to help highlight innovative programs
that can be used nationwide. He also said it would employ an
information-clearing house that cities and states can use to refine and
improve their programs.

The 25 cities selected, Walters said, constitute "a substantial share of
the substance abuse problem in the country." In Seattle and King County,
23.2 percent of all 12th-graders said they frequently used marijuana,
according to a 2000 survey. That was slightly higher than the national
average. Federal statistics show that marijuana and methamphetamines are
the biggest problems.

Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said he'd be willing to sit down and
talk to Walters, but what he really needs is money. "The cities are
strongly in need of some understanding that some direct funding has to go
to them to deal with this onslaught of problems," he said.

Like other front-line officers, Kerlikowske stressed that the drug problem
is a result of a complex mix of issues, including poverty, education, the
economy as well as outright criminal behavior.

"The one thing that is pretty clear here is that there's a strong
recognition that the drug issues and the drug problems aren't just a law
enforcement or criminal justice problem. It really is looked at very
holistically here," he said, mentioning drug treatment and social programs.

"Just rearresting the same people, putting handcuffs on the same people
makes no sense," he said. "Whenever somebody has a simple answer to a
complex problem you can rest assured that it's wrong. It really is a
complex problem."

It's also lucrative. Walters estimated that the U.S. illegal drug trade
generates $60 billion each year. If the drug trade is stopped or slowed, he
said, the local economy would benefit because many of those dollars would
be used for legal purposes.

In addition to Seattle, the cities involved are Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston,
Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los
Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Phoenix,
Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa, and
Washington, D.C.